Stocks End Week on Mixed Note

Stocks posted slight gains today, although blue chips fell, as investors bought shares of companies that had upbeat results and unloaded those adding to
the market's earnings apprehension.

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A government report showing the economy at
its weakest in eight years sparked light selling, as did worse-than-anticipated results from JDS Uniphase.

Analysts said the muted response reflected how accustomed
investors have become to bad news, given the dismal second-quarter
earnings of recent weeks. They also said the market was reassured
by indications that that the outlook for semiconductor stocks could
be improving.

Broader Indexes Advanced

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 38.96 at 10,416.67,
according to preliminary calculations, cutting short a two-day
winning streak.

For the week, the three indexes made little progress, despite a
massive selloff Monday and Tuesday that sent the Dow down 335
points. The Dow ended the week off about 1.5 percent, while the
other two indicators fell by less than a percent.

"There's no catalyst on the earnings side short-term to give us
a strong headwind, so we're stuck," said Robert Harrington,
co-head of listed block trading at UBS Warburg. "The only good
thing I can say it that the negative news is not bringing the whole
market down."

Investors continued to pore over earnings reports, looking for
indications of where business is headed.

JDS Uniphase was pummeled, falling 95 cents, or 10 percent, to
$8.55, after reporting a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and
warning of revenue shortfalls ahead. The optical networking company
also announced 7,000 more job cuts — bringing the total for the
year to 16,000, or more than half of its staff.

Dow’s Losses Concentrated

The Dow's losses came from a handful of stocks, including
technology bellwethers Intel, which fell 61 cents to $29.22, and
Microsoft, which was down $1.14 at $65.47. DuPont, which released
disappointing results early in the week, also suffered, falling
$1.06 to $42.13.

The news was better in semiconductors, a technology subsector
whose recovery is considered a precursor to any technology
turnaround. Investors sent LSI Logic up $1.70 to $20.85 after the
company said it expects business to bottom out in the current
quarter.

But Wall Street had little reaction to a Commerce Department
report released Friday that showed the economy slowed to a 0.7
growth rate this spring, the worst performance in eight years, as
businesses cut investment spending by the largest amount in nearly
two decades.

"There was some relief that the number wasn't negative … that
we're not in a recession, and we're closer every day to interest
rate cuts helping the economy," said Barry Hyman, chief investment
strategist at Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum.

Still, most companies remain unable to say when business will
improve. That inability has translated into uncertainty on Wall
Street that has kept many investors on the sidelines. The three
major stocks indexes, the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500, have all made
little progress since mid-April.

Also today, US Airways dropped 89 cents to $17.26 after the
Justice Department said it would fight to block its proposed merger
with United Airlines on the grounds it would "reduce competition,
raise fares and harm consumers." UAL, United's parent corporation,
fell 29 cents to $33.63.

Advancing issues led decliners nearly 4 to 3 on the New York
Stock Exchange. Volume came to nearly 1.02 billion shares, compared
with 1.21 billion Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial average erased an early
loss to close with a gain of 49.96 points, or 0.48 percent, at
10,455.63. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose
12.44 points, or 1.04 percent, to 1,202.93.